Dental Remains from the Middle Paleolithic Layers of Altai Cave Sites*

Two Middle Paleolithic cave sites in the Altai – Okladnikov and Chagyrskaya – have yielded dental remains (mostly isolated teeth) of individuals of various ages. A newly discovered mandibular fragment with teeth from Chagyrskaya Cave reveals a Neanderthal trait combination: anterior fossa and epicristid (midtrigonid crest) on molars, metaconid and crest on premolars. The totality of dental traits support the conclusion previously drawn on the basis of postcranial characters: Altai Neanderthals appear to be intermediate between other Eurasian Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans.     

An Archaic Human Ulna from Chagyrskaya Cave Altai: Morphology and Taxonomy*

Excavations at the Chagyrskaya Cave site in Gorny Altai have revealed a Mousteroid industry along with fragmented human remains. This study focuses on a left ulna from stratum 6a. Its size, proportions, symptoms of disease, and indicators of muscular activity, point to Neanderthal affinities. The bone is large, linking the individual with certain Near Eastern Neanderthal males such as Shanidar. Symptoms of what might be diagnosed as Forestier disease suggest likewise.     

Denisovans,Neanderthals, and Early Modern Humans: A Review of the Pleistocene Hominin Fossils from the Altai Mountains (Southern Siberia)

Journal of Archaeological Research - This paper reviews significant issues related to the fossil hominins from the Altai Mountains of Siberia (Russia), namely Denisovans, Neanderthals, and early...     

DID NEANDERTHALS PLAY MUSIC? X‐RAY COMPUTED MICRO‐TOMOGRAPHY OF THE DIVJE BABE ‘FLUTE’*

Archaeological evidence for wind musical instruments made by modern humans has been well established from the Upper Palaeolithic in Europe. Musical instruments evidently made by Neanderthals have not been found so far. The most controversial object is a juvenile cave bear femur with two complete holes, found in 1995 in the Middle Palaeolithic layers of the Cave Divje babe I, Slovenia. The bone was interpreted as a possible Neanderthal ‘flute’, but some scholars have firmly rejected this hypothesis on the basis of taphonomic observations, suggesting a carnivore origin for the holes. Here, we show the results of X‐ray computed micro‐tomography (mCT) performed on the Divje babe I ‘flute’. Our analyses demonstrate that there were originally four holes, possibly made with pointed stones and bone tools. Most surface modifications near the holes, previously interpreted as effects of carnivore gnawing, are post‐depositional marks. Furthermore, a thin layer has been removed around one of the complete holes, producing a flat surface, possibly to facilitate perforation. The new data show that a Neanderthal manufacture of the object cannot be ruled out.     

Environmental Conditions During the Early Human Settlement of Chagyrskaya Cave (Altai)

The article presents the results of a palynological study conducted at the Middle Paleolithic site of Chagyrskaya Cave (Altai). Sediments containing the technocomplex of the Sibiryachikha facies of the Altai Middle Paleolithic accumulated at the end of MIS 4 which corresponds with the final stage of the Ermakovo glaciation. The results of the palynological analysis indicate that during the period in question, predominantly steppe landscapes existed in dry, cold climate conditions.     

A FOSSIL HUMAN HUMERUS FROM KHVALYNSK: MORPHOLOGY AND TAXONOMY

A fossil humerus from Khoroshevsky Island, Khvalynsk, Saratov Province, previously believed to have been lost eighty years ago, was studied by osteometric, X-ray, tomographic, histological, and paleopathological methods. The results suggest that the fossil represents an adult Neanderthal, apparently male, displaying a peculiar hormonal status which ? nds no direct parallels among known human physiological conditions, either normal or pathological.     

The Cradle of Thought: Growth,Learning, Play and Attachment in Neanderthal Children

Childhood is a core stage in development, essential in the acquisition of social, practical and cultural skills. However, this area receives limited attention in archaeological debate, especially in early prehistory. We here consider Neanderthal childhood, exploring the experience of Neanderthal children using biological, cultural and social evidence. We conclude that Neanderthal childhood experience was subtly different from that of their modern human counterparts, orientated around a greater focus on social relationships within their group. Neanderthal children, as reflected in the burial record, may have played a particularly significant role in their society, especially in the domain of symbolic expression. A consideration of childhood informs broader debates surrounding the subtle differences between Neanderthals and modern humans.     

The Sibiryachikha Facies of the Middle Paleolithic of the Altai

The Middle Paleolithic industry of the Sibiryachikha facies is described on the basis of two stratified sites in the Altai – Okladnikov Cave (formerly Sibiryachikha) and Chagyrskaya Cave. Stratigrtraphic, environmental, and chronological aspects are discussed. The structure of two cave sites is analyzed. Petrographic properties of raw material are described and the typology and technology of the lithic industry are compared with those of other local Middle Paleolithic traditions. The Sibiryachikha facies of the Altai Middle Paleolithic represented by two sites was clearly associated with a small group of Neanderthals who migrated from western Central Asia. Eventually the Middle Paleolithic industry evolved into a local variant of the Upper Paleolithic.     

An exclusively hyena-collected bone assemblage in the Late Pleistocene of Sicily: taphonomy and stratigraphic context of the large mammal remains from San Teodoro Cave (North-Eastern Sicily,Italy)

A detailed taphonomic analysis of the large mammal assemblage from 1998 to 2006 excavations at San Teodoro Cave is presented, taking into account the stratigraphic context of the deposits. Three not strictly contemporary fossiliferous levels having different lithological features have been detected, here named B-I, B-II, and B-III. Fossil remains are prevalently accumulated in B-I and B-II. The three levels are characterized by evidence of Crocuta crocuta spelaea occupation, represented by their skeletal remains, coprolites, and distinctive damages on the bones, similar to fossil and modern spotted hyena dens from Europe and Africa. A differential distribution of coprolites and small digested bones, probably due to different humidity conditions, has been recognized in B-I and B-II, and can be related to different topographic locations within the cave or to different climate conditions during the sedimentation phases. The very low density of fossil remains in B-III, which is the oldest level, could indicate an area that was less inhabited by hyenas, probably due to geomorphological conditions. Taphonomic comparison of the three fossiliferous levels of the San Teodoro Cave deposits points to a long-term, perhaps cyclic, occupation of the cave by hyenas and confirms the cave as one of the most important Pleistocene hyena dens in Europe.     

Chagyrskaya Cave:A Middle Paleolithic Site In The Altai

This article presents the results of multidisciplinary studies conducted at Chagyrskaya – an Upper Pleistocene karst cave in the northwestern Altai where Middle Paleolithic stone tools and fossil remains of Neanderthals were found. Taphonomic aspects of the site are addressed, and results of science-based analyses including radiocarbon and paleomagnetic dating are presented. The deposits are similar to loess-like Upper Pleistocene loams of Western Siberia. Among the Middle Paleolithic industries of the Altai, the Chagyrskaya industry is paralleled only by that of Okladnikov (formerly Sibiryachikha) Cave. Both represent a local Middle Paleolithic Mousteroid facies, named Sibiryachikha after the eponymous site.     

Micro‐CT Imaging and Analysis of Enamel Defects on the Early Late Pleistocene Xujiayao Juvenile

Dental pathologies and enamel defects in East Asian hominins have rarely been reported. Here, we systematically document and describe a suite of enamel defects in the Xujiayao juvenile maxilla, an East Asian hominin from the early Late Pleistocene that may represent an unknown hominin lineage. In addition, we determine the chronology of growth disruptions represented by matched linear enamel hypoplasias, evaluate the long‐held hypothesis that the large brownish pit on the I¹ is evidence of dental fluorosis and assess the utility of micro‐computed tomography (micro‐CT) techniques in analyzing enamel defects. With the use of binocular microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and micro‐CT imaging techniques, the Xujiayao teeth were found to exhibit a high number of pit‐form defects seldom seen in the fossil record. By matching the timing of linear enamel hyperplasia across multiple teeth, a minimum of five developmental disruptions were identified, indicating that the Xujiayao juvenile experienced several growth disturbances during its short lifespan. Our SEM and micro‐CT analyses suggest that the large pit on the I¹ is an enamel hypoplasia due to its morphology and pre‐eruptive enamel thinning. It is not a post‐eruptive fluorotic pit, and there is no evidence of chalkiness or opacity associated with dental fluorosis. The micro‐CT technique made it possible to verify the presence of enamel hypoplasia and to more precisely quantify defect dimensions, especially in unerupted teeth and shallow hypoplasias that are difficult to detect by binocular microscopy or SEM. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

To catch a chameleon,or actualism vs. natural history in the taphonomy of the microvertebrate fraction at Qesem Cave,Israel

Qesem Cave is a unique Middle Pleistocene, hominin-bearing site in Israel that contains a rich microvertebrate accumulation. The microvertebrates are highly unusual in that half of them are from small reptiles, and most of the reptiles are chameleons, which are otherwise rare in the fossil record. Analysis of the lower vertebrate component shows uniform taphonomic characteristics: on average 17.6% of specimens show evidence of corrosion (the vast majority light), and specimen breakage is between 4.9 and 12.0%, depending on metric. Charring is negligible. Most species are small (body mass <60 g). These taphonomic attributes do not vary in the studied portion of the stratigraphic profile, nor do they systematically vary between taxa. Thorough study of all skeletal parts suggests that most individuals probably entered the cave as whole animals; the only exception is the large glass lizard, Pseudopus, which is represented mostly by the tail. These taphonomic data suggest a Barn Owl as the predominant accumulator. However, natural history observations on Barn Owls and chameleons are strongly at odds with this actualistic inference: Barn Owls are nowhere recorded as a major predator on chameleons. We argue that a focus on extant, especially European, populations could distort our understanding of their feeding biology and is vulnerable to counterexample. We propose a scenario that harmonizes actualism and natural history. We further identify a possible owl roost in Qesem Cave, the first time such a roost has been identified in a collapsed cave setting. These conclusions may have conservation implications for chameleons. They also suggest that the hearth adjacent to the microvertebrate concentration was situated in the twilight zone.     

Identification of fossil hairs in Parahyaena brunnea coprolites from Middle Pleistocene deposits at Gladysvale cave,South Africa

This research focuses on scale pattern and cross sectional morphology of hair to identify an expanded sample of fossil hairs from Parahyaena brunnea coprolites from Gladysvale cave in the Sterkfontein Valley, South Africa. The coprolites are part of a brown hyaena latrine preserved in calcified cave sediment dated to the Middle Pleistocene (257–195 ka). Forty-eight fossil hairs were extracted from 12 coprolites using fine tweezers and a binocular microscope, and examined using a scanning electron microscope. Hair identification was based on consultation of standard guides to hair identification and comparison with our own collection of samples of guard hairs from 15 previously undocumented taxa of indigenous southern African mammals. Samples were taken from the back of pelts curated at the Johannesburg Zoo and Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (formerly Transvaal Museum, Pretoria). Based on the fossil hairs identified here, this research has established that brown hyaenas shared the Sterkfontein Valley with hominins, warthog, impala, zebra and kudu. Apart from humans, these animals are associated with savanna grasslands, much like the Highveld environment of today. These findings support the previous tentative identification of fossil human hair in the coprolites, provide a new source of information on the local Middle Pleistocene fossil mammal community, and insight into the environment in which archaic and emerging modern humans in the interior of the African subcontinent lived.     

The taphonomy and palaeoenvironmental implications of the small mammals from Karain Cave,Turkey

The small mammal accumulations in the Pleistocene deposits of Karain Cave are investigated to identify the predators and possible biases in the fossil assemblages. Seven small mammal assemblages are studied in chronological order from two chambers of the cave, the main chamber E and the side chamber B. The lowermost level within the whole sequence is Proto-Charentien, which corresponds to an early stage of the Middle Palaeolithic. The main part of the material belongs to Middle Palaeolithic layers. The most important aspect of the fossil record in the cave is the human occupation without any interruption through the Pleistocene to Holocene. The small mammal fossil evidence in the cave denotes the presence of opportunistic predators throughout the sequence with one exception, and these produce balanced samples of small mammal faunas in the habitat. The lack of bias in the small mammal faunas allow the interpretation of local environments, showing that partial steppe and arid conditions existed during deposition of the lowermost levels of the Middle Palaeolithic in Karain Cave and that these shifted into more temperate and wooded habitat in the upper levels. Evidence from the side chamber indicates some differences, with a more open grassy environment. In the Mediterranean part of Anatolia the temperate and moist conditions in the Middle Palaeolithic were superseded by more arid conditions in the Upper Palaeolithic, followed by a decrease in steppe conditions during the Epi-Palaeolithic period.     

Taphonomy of ungulate ribs and the consumption of meat and bone by 1.2-million-year-old hominins at Olduvai Gorge,Tanzania

The phenomenon of equifinality complicates behavioral interpretations of faunal assemblages from contexts in which Pleistocene hominins are suspected bone accumulators. Stone tool butchery marks on ungulate fossils are diagnostic of hominin activities, but debate continues over the higher-order implications of butchered bones for the foraging capabilities of hominins. Additionally, tooth marks imparted on bones by hominins overlap in morphology and dimensions with those created by some non-hominin carnivores, further confounding our view of early hominins as meat-eating hunters, scavengers or both. We report on the manual/oral peeling of cortical layers of ungulate ribs as taphonomically diagnostic of hominoid/hominin meat- and bone-eating behavior that indicates access to large herbivore carcasses by hominins at the site of BK, Olduvai. Supporting these inferences, we show that certain types of rib peeling damage are very rare or completely unknown in faunas created by modern carnivores and African porcupines, but common in faunas modified by the butchery and/or consumption activities of modern humans and chimpanzees, during which these hominoids often grasp ribs with their hands, and then used their teeth to peel strips of cortex from raggedly chewed ends of the ribs. Carnivores consume ungulate ribcage tissues soon after kills, so diagnostic traces of hominin butchery/consumption on ribs (i.e., peeling and butchery marks) indicate early access to ungulate carcasses by BK hominins. Tooth marks associated with the peeling and butchery marks are probably hominin-derived, and may indicate that it was not uncommon for our ancestors to use their teeth to strip meat from and to consume portions of ribs. Recognition of rib peeling as a diagnostic signature of hominoid/hominin behavior may also aid the search for pre-archaeological traces of hominin meat-eating.     

Population relationships of later Pleistocene hominids: A multivariate study of available crania

The Neanderthal populations of the Upper Pleistocene have been regarded by a number of anthropologists as direct ancestors to modern man. Results of multivariate analyses conducted in this study suggest that early Neanderthal crania were morphologically more like modern Homo sapiens than were the later Neanderthals. The implications of these results are discussed in the light of archaeological evidence and comparative studies of Pleistocene crania from outside Europe.     

CT and micro‐CT analysis of a case of Paget's disease (osteitis deformans) in the Grant skeletal collection

This paper presents a case study in which Paget's disease of bone is differentially diagnosed in an individual from the Grant skeletal collection using non‐destructive computed tomography (CT) and micro‐computed tomography (micro‐CT) analyses of the pubis, in addition to plain film radiography and macroscopic examination. In archaeological and modern osteological samples diagnosis frequently relies on macroscopic examination, plain film radiography and histological examination of bone samples. CT and micro‐CT modalities provide researchers with a non‐destructive view of the internal structure of bone unhampered by the superimposition that is characteristic of plain film radiographs. Given the importance of the increased cortical and trabecular thickness in the differential diagnosis of Paget's disease, these techniques are ideal means by which to non‐destructively examine culturally‐sensitive and scientifically‐valuable human remains for signs of Paget's disease of bone. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Zooarchaeological perspectives on the Chinese Early and Late Paleolithic from the Ma’anshan site (Guizhou,South China)

Ma’anshan is a Paleolithic cave site in the Guizhou province of southern China. The total area of the excavations is ca. 48 m², and the cultural deposit is divided into two layers representing the Chinese Late Paleolithic and the later part of the Early Paleolithic. The upper layer dates between 19,295  BP and 31,155 BP by AMS technique, and the lower layer is dated to around 53,000 BP by U-Series technique. Thousands of bone fragments were recovered from the two layers. Species abundance, bone surface modifications, skeletal element representation, and mortality patterns were studied in an investigation of assemblage formation history and patterns of prey selection and meat consumption by hominins. Interpretations of the faunal data are strengthened by reference to experimental studies and ethnoarchaeological data. The zooarchaeological data indicate that the later occupants of Ma’anshan Cave hunted mainly medium and small game animals, while the earlier occupants tended to prey upon larger animals. In the later period, hominins also made fuller use of the carcasses. The breadth of the meat diet increased with time, due to the inclusion of quick small animals (bamboo rats and birds) in the later period. The differences between the two faunal assemblages are consistent with the chronologic boundary currently drawn between the Chinese Early and Late Paleolithic ca. 30–27 ka BP, based on technological and other evidence.     

Extraction and sequencing of human and Neanderthal mature enamel proteins using MALDI-TOF/TOF MS

We report here the first results of a method to extract and sequence mature enamel proteins from modern human and Neanderthal tooth enamel. Using MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry and a combination of direct sequencing and peptide mass mapping we have sequenced a peptide from the tyrosine-rich amelogenin peptide (TRAP) of the X isoform of the amelogenin protein for modern and recent human samples. We also report our results from two Neanderthal enamel samples where we were also able to recover fragments of the TRAP protein, which had a similar sequence to the modern human samples.     

Examining histology to identify burned bone

Early research suggests that examination of the microscopic internal structure is a valid method for distinguishing burned from unburned bone in the archaeological record. This study compares burned and unburned modern bones with archaeological bones from Sibudu Cave (ca. 60,000 years ago) and Cave of Hearths (over 200,000 years ago) to more fully describe the heat-induced histological changes to bone. We also explore the effects of diagenesis on those changes to determine if histological evidence of burning preserves through fossilisation and diagenetic processes and can be successfully used to identify ancient burning. Application of this technique can help in addressing various issues, including the origins of controlled use of fire and understanding animal butchery and disposal.